By Oscar Aitchison.
Both a grounded and wildly ambitious quasi-epic that soars with genuine unique craftsmanship at its best but paces itself out of feeling like a fully fledged riot.
Religion as a form of joyous self expression is at the forefront of Mona Fastvold’s third feature, over five years since her last, The Testament of Ann Lee. Part musical, part grim tale of defiance over gender and popular discourse, the film weaves in and out of scenes and tones like a mysterious form perhaps akin to God themself. The lesser known story of leader of the Shakers movement Ann Lee is less rigorously explored but more evocatively imagined. Through Fastvold’s inventive, sleek direction and composer Daniel Blumberg’s cathartic, expertly period detailed score the film mostly works as a reminder that our differences are our strength and how every great movement begins with brave people without fear of ridicule.
Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried) is born in Manchester in 1736, early on in her youth she witnesses her father having sex with her mother and has a strong visceral reaction. Seen as sinful and unassumingly violent through a child’s eyes this moment and the subsequent beating for challenging it imprints on her until we meet her in later life. One day she visits the church of the Shakers, a religious alternative to Christianity that expresses their prayer and worship through animalistic dance, movement and chanting. Ann is instantly taken and you can see why; these early scenes of the shakers in perfect harmony, arms stretching out to a higher power, moving as if one organism are absolutely barnstorming. Fastvold directs with a clarity and precision which makes each musical scene feel like an art house music video (in a good way) and the score is individualism personified.
Ann marries fellow believer Abraham (Christopher Abbott) who imposes his will of procreation leading to a devastating section where all four of their children die either in childbirth or very soon after. The birthing scenes are raw and real and spliced between her relief and freedom when dancing with the Shakers, it speaks to the interesting examination of a woman’s duty of motherhood and her actualdesires beyond it. Ann is not just a mother and she may not want to be one but this is unfathomable in a time when going against the grain can result in much worse than just isolation. So she becomes the movement’s leader and has visions leading her to New York as well seeing Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, all Shakers must abstain from sex and marriage and she adopts the name “Mother Ann”. She preaches gender and social equality as “we are all God’s children” which feels refreshing for a story told in the 1700’s but also leaves her wide open for potential danger. While the content is fascinating Fastvold and co-writer Brady Corbet are less intent on showing us the detailed foundations of the movement, it is more of a mood piece than a history lesson which can work both in its favour and against it.
At times the film is questionably paced, with energetic and intense music sequences followed by large, desaturated periods of Ann and her followers trudging through bleak terrain to spread the message. There is a brief moment showcasing Ann’s brother William’s (Lewis Pullman) homosexuality which is never developed and the weight of its lofty ambitions can occasionally feel too much for the film to be fully cohesive. But the star power of Amanada Seyfried (despite the patchy Mancunian accent) provides much of the film’s gravitas and heft, especially in darker moments, this is a physical and emotionally taxing performance of sheer will and determination. While the characters on the outskirts aren’t as well rounded as Mother Ann, everyone understands the assignment and the community and long journey towards the movement’s ideals are believable in their idea of acceptance. The film’s overall message is ultimately uplifting despite some truly harsh imagery, people dance, people exercise and move their bodies and equality is preached by the good guys – perhaps we are all Shakers in one way or another.
The Verdict: 7/10
Ann Lee was a genuine trailblazer, a woman preacher in a time that would chastise the very notion, she rose above public perception and even if the finer points of her religious fanaticism seem farfetched they brought peace to both her and many others. The Testament of Ann Lee, like the Shakers is a polarising project with the type of scope and ambition studios should take more notice of.
